Business and the Ethical Implications of Technology: Introduction to the Symposium

Kirsten Martin (), Katie Shilton and Jeffery Smith
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Kirsten Martin: George Washington University
Katie Shilton: University of Maryland
Jeffery Smith: Seattle University

Journal of Business Ethics, 2019, vol. 160, issue 2, No 1, 307-317

Abstract: Abstract While the ethics of technology is analyzed across disciplines from science and technology studies (STS), engineering, computer science, critical management studies, and law, less attention is paid to the role that firms and managers play in the design, development, and dissemination of technology across communities and within their firm. Although firms play an important role in the development of technology, and make associated value judgments around its use, it remains open how we should understand the contours of what firms owe society as the rate of technological development accelerates. We focus here on digital technologies: devices that rely on rapidly accelerating digital sensing, storage, and transmission capabilities to intervene in human processes. This symposium focuses on how firms should engage ethical choices in developing and deploying these technologies. In this introduction, we, first, identify themes the symposium articles share and discuss how the set of articles illuminate diverse facets of the intersection of technology and business ethics. Second, we use these themes to explore what business ethics offers to the study of technology and, third, what technology studies offers to the field of business ethics. Each field brings expertise that, together, improves our understanding of the ethical implications of technology. Finally we introduce each of the five papers, suggest future research directions, and interpret their implications for business ethics.

Keywords: Technology; Socio-technical systems; Science and technology studies; Privacy; Values in design; Social contract theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10551-019-04213-9

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